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1 1 What Is ADHD? To understand ADHD, we must review its incidence and prevalence in children and adults, as these impact diagnosing and related issues. More generally, an overview of neurotransmission helps us better understand ADHD and how it impacts personal, educational, and workplace domains. UNDERSTANDING ADHD ADHD is a neurobiological behavioral disorder characterized by devel- opmentally inappropriate and chronic problems with inattention, impul- sivity, and sometimes hyperactivity. Most people with ADHD aren’t overtly hyperactive but have internal restlessness or hyperactivity. Many don’t have deficits of attention but focus too much attention on certain things. ADHD is understood to be brain based. Someone with an ADHD brain may have more difficulty than others without the disorder, known as neurotypicals, in getting motivated and focused on tasks. Understanding the brain, par- ticularly as related to executive functions, including regulation or dysfunc- tion of attention, is essential. The prefrontal cortex is the site of executive control, particularly regulation of attention and emotions. ADHD is the consequence of insufficient activity—rather than hyperarousal—in the neural circuits that are responsible for modulating attention and control- ling behavior. Frontal cortex signal transmission to other brain regions allows processing and task performance. If signals are weak, as with ADHD,